After more than a week’s worth of testimony in the capital murder trial of former U.S. Border Patrol agent Joel Luna and his brother, Eduardo, closing arguments are expected to begin today.
The brothers, along with two others, are accused of killing Honduran immigrant Jose Francisco Palacios Paz and dumping his body in the Laguna Madre in March 2015.
Defense attorney Carlos A. Garcia on Thursday attempted to get 107th state District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr. to dismiss the charges against Joel Luna stating state prosecutors did not provide any evidence that tied his client to Palacios Paz’s death.
“Your honor, we feel there’s been no evidence provided to this jury from which a jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt, no reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt, to find my client, Joel Luna, guilty of” the counts filed against him.
Cameron County District Attorney Gus Garza recounted his case to the judge, outlining his reasons for objecting to the motion that asked for the charges against Luna to be dismissed.
Euresti listened intently, then asked Garza, “I understand what you just said, but how does that tie in to Joel Luna? You’ve got four counts, I’m talking about count one and two. (capital murder and murder)”
After more back and forth between the attorneys and the judge, Euresti somewhat reluctantly made his ruling.
“At this time I’ll deny the motion, and it’s very iffy as far as the court is concerned, on counts one and count two, but I’ll let the jury decide whether, based on the facts, they can find anything,” he said.
Garcia went through his witnesses in less than an hour.
Six were former Border Patrol agents, who all testified that Joel Luna was a peaceful, law abiding citizen.
Luna’s former supervisor, Cesar Seca, testified, “Since I’ve known Mr. Luna, he’s always been an excellent agent, never had anything bad to say about him.”
Attorneys for Eduardo Luna also called their witnesses, and all attorneys rested their cases.
